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Special Education Parent & Community Liaison

The staff at your student¡¯s school and at your district office are always available to assist you in ensuring your student receives the proper supports and services.

If you have questions about the special education process or difficulties communicating with your school district and need additional help, our office has a Special Education Parent & Community Liaison to assist you.

The º£½ÇÉçÇø Special Education Parent & Community Liaison is available as a resource to parents in non-legal special education matters. The Special Education Parent & Community Liaison is not an advocate on behalf of any one party. The Parent & Community Liaison, on the other hand, can act as a guide for anyone attempting to understand and navigate various special education or school district processes and procedures.

To submit a question or schedule a consult with a Special Education Parent & Community Liaison, call 360-725-6075 or submit a message through the Ask º£½ÇÉçÇø web page.

What can the Special Education Parent & Community Liaison do for me?

The role of the Special Education Parent & Community Liaison at º£½ÇÉçÇø is to provide guidance to parents and community members on resolving disagreements with school districts about special education services quickly, fairly, and at the lowest level possible. The Special Education Parent & Community Liaison does this by:

• Helping parents and educators better understand special education processes and regulations;
• Acting as a neutral facilitator between citizens and school districts to help solve problems related to special education;
• Clarifying the roles of parents, as well as educators, related to special education services;
• Acting as a neutral sounding board to explore options for resolving special education related disagreements;
• Advising parents and educators about communication strategies that help to support a team approach to a student's educational program;
• Explaining the options available to both formally and informally resolve a special education disagreement or complaint;
• Advocating for a fair process;
• Working to prevent individual concerns from being overlooked by the system;
• Making recommendations to º£½ÇÉçÇø and other stakeholders based upon common issues and patterns of complaints, if patterns emerge;
• Serving as a resource for disability related information and referral.

What should I not expect from the Special Education Parent & Community Liaison?

º£½ÇÉçÇø¡¯s Special Education Parent & Community Liaison:

• Does not act as an attorney;
• Does not provide legal advice;
• Does not determine special education or º£½ÇÉçÇø policy;
• Does not conduct investigations and/or write investigative reports;
• Does not advocate on behalf of any one party or organization;
• Does not attend IEP meetings;
• Is not a defender of º£½ÇÉçÇø or school district practices;
• Is not someone who can order a school district or other public agency to fix a problem.

Partner Organizations

These publicly funded partner organizations may also be able to provide additional information about special education services in Washington state:

Partnerships for Action Voices for Empowerment (PAVE)

Parent Training and Information Center
6316 So. 12th St.
Tacoma, WA 98465
800-5-PARENT (v/TTY)
Email: pave@wapave.org

Open Doors for Multicultural º£½ÇÉçÇø

Community Parent Resource Center (serving South King County)
24437 Russell Road, Suite 220 (Office Location)
4327 South 253rd Street (Mailing Address)
Kent, WA 98032
Phone: 253-216-4479
Email: info@multiculturalfamilies.org

Office of the Education Ombuds

PO Box 40004
Olympia, WA 98504
1-866-297-2597
Email: oeoinfo@gov.wa.gov